Author: Alexei Navalny

Release year: 2024

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Link to my handwritten notes

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My review

Alexei Navalny is someone I vaguely heard about on the news. I must admit that I did not follow his story closely. Call it willful blindness, but I thought something along the lines of, “Eh, this is happening on the other side of the world, there are more pressing things to care about happening here.”

What a shameful thing to admit!

This book landed on my lap as a recommendation from a Tatar friend of mine who fled the Russian regime in 2018. Through our discussions, she taught me a lot about Russian life and the importance of Navalny’s crusade against Putin. I’m very glad she urged me to read this book.

So, if you don’t already know his story, Navalny is a political dissident who grew up in the USSR, witnessed its collapse, and eventually saw Putin’s rise to power with his own eyes. What Navalny laments is that the USSR was built on lies to keep its population in the dark about how poor and limited in their freedom of speech they truly were. The collapse of the USSR should have been an opportunity to do things differently and to have Russia live a renaissance period, but the opposite happened. Putin was nostalgic for the USSR because this was a world in which he was inaccessibly superior to everyone else. And so Putin’s objective to recreate the USSR is, in Navalny’s perspective, completely counterproductive, as it takes the country backward instead of forward.

In vivid detail, Navalny tells what it was like to grow up in the USSR in a military village.

(p. 86) There was no pastime better than reading, except perhaps causing explosions and setting fire to things. And the combination of the two was my idea of a perfect life.

He recounts how there were shortages of every kind of basic items: chewing gum, jeans, even milk. They had to wake up at 6 AM and stand in line for over forty minutes for a chance to get their hands on a ration of milk. While reminiscing about this part of his life, Navalny says “I have no wish to go back to the days of the USSR. A state incapable of producing enough milk for its citizens does not deserve my nostalgia.” Hard to argue with that.

It seems that what made reality bearable for Soviets was the thought that their lack of material necessities somehow made them stronger.

(p. 41) We suffer appalling conditions, criticize and gripe about the authorities, yet simultaneously manage to take pride in being able to survive in these horrid conditions, and consider it a great competitive advantage in a hypothetical confrontation between nations. […] We can’t admit to being fools, though, so we look for something to boast about, where in fact there is nothing to be proud of.

One memory of Navalny’s youth seems to me to be particularly revelatory. Apparently, when people were traveling West, they had a moral obligation to bring gifts back to Russia. One of Navalny’s treasures was a sugar packet from the plane with the word “Aeroflot” written on it. That’s all that he was able to get.

Fast forward to adulthood, Navalny decided to become a lawyer and start working in politics.

(p. 180) I went into politics to fight against people who are wrecking my country, one incapable of improving our lives, and act solely in their own interests.

Slowly but surely, he gathered a following, and this became incredibly annoying for the state. Here was someone who was fighting for the people, for sharing resources. This was an affront to everything Putin believes in. And so began what could be described as the fiercest internal political fight of modern times. Here were two men who would never negotiate their principles.

Navalny had truth and history on his side. Putin had the armed forces and the legal system. In theory, Putin had the upper hand, but Navalny’s love of the country was so strong that he never backed down. And so, the intensity of their fight kept escalating. Eventually, Putin ordered the assassination of Navalny using the Novichok nerve agent while Navalny was boarding a plane to Germany. He barely survived.

After his recovery, despite all warnings, Navalny traveled back to Russia to continue fighting Putin. Unfortunately, he was arrested at the airport before crossing the border and was taken to prison, where he died three years later under mysterious circumstances. This is where the majority of the book was written, as Navalny kept a journal to keep himself sane. In prison, he faced the harshest of conditions and was in solitary confinement most of the time, which despite being illegal, the state used all the loopholes it could to inflict on Navalny. They were making a martyr of him, hoping that he would crack. He would not.

While reading his memoir, one can only admire Navalny’s mental strength. He goes through the whole gamut of emotions, reminiscing about his life, his wife, his children, his country, but he never loses sight of what matters. Whether it was during his hunger strike or right before his very last page, Navalny somehow finds the strength to make witty remarks and inspire. It’s very touching.

(p. 330) I propose that we change our slogan and say that Russia should not only be free but also happy.

Russia will be happy!

(p. 406) Let’s face it, if a murky assassination attempt using a chemical weapon, followed by a tragic demise in prison, can’t move a book, it is hard to imagine what would. The book’s author has been murdered by a villainous president; what more could the marketing department ask for?

(p. 437) My cell is basically Vipassana. It’s a spiritual practice for rich people suffering from a midlife crisis. These people pay to be locked in a room where they remain silent for two weeks, eat scant food, and have no contact with the outside world. They just meditate and reflect. And I’m getting all that for free.

Jealous?

Navalny knew that he would ultimately win if he did not back down, but he also accepted that he could never see the true impact of his fight during his life. Putin would have to do the unforgivable to seal his own fate. And we presume that’s exactly what happened on February 16, 2024, when Navalny died in prison.

Navalny should not have died on that day. He died for all Russians. He sacrificed because he believed they deserved to live freely, free from the regime that has been a parasite to them for centuries. Without exaggeration, Navalny is the closest I have ever seen to a modern day Jesus. I like that he was also a devout Christian and found strength in religion. As someone who read and reviewed the Bible, I appreciated how Navalny discussed his relationship with religion.

More people in the West need to get familiar with Navalny’s story to fully understand how disgusting everything Putin does is. He is a sick man who knows no other way to feel good about himself than by hurting and robbing others.

Long live Navalny’s spirit. Share his story with others. Do not let his memory go in vain. One day, Russia will be happy.

Félix rating:
👍👍

⭐ Star Quotes

Part I: Near Death

Part II: Formation

• (p. 31) In most crises the population is prepared to behave in a rational and disciplined manner, especially if the situation were to be explained to them and they were told what needed to be done.
• (p. 49) The human brain really is designed in a way that means you return in memory only to what was good in the past. Those who feel nostalgic for the USSR are in reality nostalgic for their youth.
• (p. 49) “It seemed to me then, as a bot, that mine was the strongest, most powerful country in the world and, despite the shortage of chewing gum and jeans, everybody knew that if there was a way, we would beat all the others just as our athletes were already beating everyone else at the Olympics.”
• (p. 49) While you are a child or young adult, everything seems fine, and politicians often exploit this law of life to obscure our image of the future by presenting a false picture of the past.
• (p. 70) Being poor was much more bearable when everybody else was, but it was intolerable once you could see your neighbor was far richer.
• (p. 74) Elderly generals were confident they had a perfect understanding of how the people felt, when, as is so often the case, all they knew came from conversations with their drivers and bodyguards, who told them only what they wanted to hear.
• (p. 77) ⭐ Indecision is a cardinal sin in an era of change.
• (p. 136) You can make a good product but then mess everything up by failing to promote it properly.
• (p. 145) Experienced politicians have a unique ability to repeat the same thing over and over again while giving it the impression they are making their revelation for the first time.
• (p. 168) A little gloating at our neighbor’s discomfiture, combined with relief at our own immunity, is always pleasurable.

Part III: The Work

• (p. 203) In a corrupt environment you yourself are forced to behave corruptly, even if all you want is to help people.
• (p. 220) The best defense against lies is publicity.
• (p. 224) ⭐ If you are not prepared to start with yourself and set an example, you will never achieve anything. It is, however, no less important to trust other people.

Part IV: Prison

2021

• (p. 310) Life gets encrusted with rituals. The joy of preparing tea is no less than that of driving it.
• (p. 328) Power is in the truth Whoever has truth on their side will win.
• (p. 399) When corruption is the very foundation of a regime, those who battle it are extremists.
• (p. 401) Laughing together makes a funny moment 25% funnier. Sometimes even 30%.
• (p. 407) “What the hell, I’ll just write about the way things are, whatever I feel like, in whichever order it comes out. Let’s regard this as gonzo journalism.”
• (p. 415) While you are sleeping you are not in jail.

2022

• (p. 421) The pendulum swings endlessly. Or the tug-of-war. Today you are brave. Tomorrow they seem to have scared you a bit. And the day after tomorrow they have scared you so much that you despair and become brave again.

2023

• (p. 441) Meditation is just a way of learning to control your thoughts.
• (p. 456) Someday someone will write the history of the opposition movement of the early 21st century, and everyone will see that its best and most fearless, hardworking, and principled members were women. And still are.
• (p. 458) On the morning of your birthday you have to be honest with yourself.
• (p. 467) Don’t miss anyone. Not terribly, not much, or very much. Don’t miss your loved ones, and don’t let your loved ones miss you. Continue to be a good, honest person, and try to be a little better and more honest in the coming year.
• (p. 470) ✅ If your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them and make sacrifices if necessary. If you’re not prepared to do that, you have no convictions.

2024

• (p. 470) Those in power should change. The best way to elect leaders is through honest and free elections. Everyone needs a fair legal system. Corruption destroys the state. There should be no censorship. The future lies in these principles.

Epilogue

• (p. 475) [Unless you’re suffering from clinical depression,] imagine the worst thing that can happen, and accept it.
• (p. 478) Faith makes life simpler. It is not essential for you to believe some old guys in the desert once lived to be 800 years old or that the sea was literally parted in front of someone. But are you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul, and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is there left for you to worry about?